Though the death toll was a far cry from the 100+ slain on Friday, today’s offensive in Daraa took the crackdown to a new level, with the regime deploying tanks into the key border city. Daraa was the city where protests began over five weeks ago.

The use of tanks against protesters has been comparatively rare across the Middle East, with only a handful of incidents in places like Bahrain and Libya. This suggests that the Assad regime is moving into the stage where shows of force are its last weapon against dissent.

At the same time, such shows of strength have been ineffective for the regime so far. Every Friday protest has been met with a violent crackdown, and the following Friday has seen protests dramatically bigger than the last. The use of such tactics seems to have convinced many opposition figures that they have little to lose in rebelling more openly.

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Perhaps if the US stopped funding dissidents, we would not be reading about all this. The United States has funded the Syrian dissidents with millions of dollars, including the funding of Barada TV, a London-based satellite channel that broadcasts anti-government news into Syria.